FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a constitution of a conventional sauna apparatus. This type of sauna apparatus is disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. H2-264659, for instance. A conventional sauna apparatus is described hereinafter.
The sauna apparatus has discharge port 102 and suction port 103 both opening into bathroom 101. Suction port 103 is communicated to discharge port 102 through blow channel 104. In blow channel 104, spray nozzle 105 (hereinafter, referred as ‘nozzle’) is installed. Nozzle 105 is connected to warm water supply 106. Cross flow fan 107 is installed at suction port 103.
Hot air generator 108 installed in a middle of blow channel 104 has case 109. Case 109 is provided with suctioned-air communication port 110, blow-air communication port 111, and drain port 112. Suctioned-air communication port 110 is communicated with the suction side of blow channel 104 and blow-air communication port 111 is communicated with the discharge side of blow channel 104. Inside case 109, a plurality of air flow directing plates 113 are disposed. Air flow directing plates 113 constitute meandering mixing room 114. Suctioned-air communication port 110 and blow-air communication port 111 are communicated to each other through meandering mixing room 114. Nozzle 105 is installed near the suctioned-air communication port 110 side rather than the meandering mixing mouth 114 side. In the sauna apparatus thus constituted, warm water spray sprayed by nozzle 105 is mixed with air in meandering mixing room 114. The air is thus humidified and heated and then sent into bathroom 101 through discharge port 102.
With this conventional sauna apparatus, when hot water is sprayed in blow channel 104, water droplets having a relatively large diameter are produced. Accordingly, the suctioned air is not efficiently humidified and an effective humidification amount is not obtained. For this reason, producing finer water droplets and sending out a much larger amount of the water droplets are required.
When water droplets of a large diameter are blown out from discharge port 102, a person in the bathroom feels unpleasant with the droplets. For this reason, it is desired to control generation of the large diameter droplets or collecting such droplets efficiently. In order to solve this task, a conventional constitution needs a countermeasure such as installing a plurality of air flow directing plates 113 of a large scale. However, such constitution increases air flow resistance, or makes the constitution complicated.